This chapter will look at the ways learning happens in gameworlds, the elements of design that support them, and the challenges of using games broadly in education. It focuses on digital or computer games, with a particular interest in serious games or games for social change.
While a number of theorists believe that games should be kept strictly inside the boundaries of entertainment, the evolution of games and expansion of their possibilities suggest otherwise. Well-designed computer and video games have good principles of learning built into them. Gee (2007) lists thirteen, the majority of them incorporating a possibility for creating new opportunities for gaining knowledge through interacting with others. This chapter will look at the ways learning happens in gameworlds, the elements of design that support them, and the challenges of using games broadly in education. It focuses on digital or computer games, with a particular interest in virtual environments, that is, online social spaces inhabited by multiple users.
A brief overview of game genres is followed by an examination of significant elements in designing games for learning. These include agency, identity, players’ interactions, the notion of time and space, the impact of failure, and the creation of the “magic circle”.
Games have the capacity to provide an engaging, motivating, and challenging learning space in which different skills can be developed. Constructing narratives in social gameplay has become a powerful tool for finding meaning in our experiences and making a change. The chapter ends with concerns about video games and addiction, and the impact of video games on real-life violence, with interesting challenges of teaching not only through, but also about games.
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Immersive gameworlds for world-wide changes
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Abstract
While a number of theorists believe that games should be kept strictly inside the boundaries of entertainment, the evolution of games and expansion of their possibilities suggest otherwise. Well-designed computer and video games have good principles of learning built into them. Gee (2007) lists thirteen, the majority of them incorporating a possibility for creating new opportunities for gaining knowledge through interacting with others. This chapter will look at the ways learning happens in gameworlds, the elements of design that support them, and the challenges of using games broadly in education. It focuses on digital or computer games, with a particular interest in virtual environments, that is, online social spaces inhabited by multiple users.A brief overview of game genres is followed by an examination of significant elements in designing games for learning. These include agency, identity, players’ interactions, the notion of time and space, the impact of failure, and the creation of the “magic circle”.
Games have the capacity to provide an engaging, motivating, and challenging learning space in which different skills can be developed. Constructing narratives in social gameplay has become a powerful tool for finding meaning in our experiences and making a change. The chapter ends with concerns about video games and addiction, and the impact of video games on real-life violence, with interesting challenges of teaching not only through, but also about games.
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Created: Sep 30, 2009 7:07 pm
Last revised by: nboskic on: Sep 30, 2009 7:12 pm (UTC)
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